CAIRO: An Israeli official said the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) is sending more troops and warships along its border with Egypt after it received warning of eminent terrorist attacks on Southern Israel. The IDF forces were reinforced to cover areas from the Gaza Strip to Eilat. The Israeli intelligent received information that militants had crossed from the Palestinian territories into Sinai in Egypt with the intent to carry out violent attacks. Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Wednesday that the IDF had deployed a third Iron Dome anti-rocket battery outside the city of Ashdod as part of the military readiness. “The deployment [near Ashdod] is part of a national emergency plan which I announced several weeks ago and is a concrete expression of defending Israel's residents from rockets and missiles,” Barak told reporters Wednesday. A recent attack on Southern Israel left 8 people dead and Gaza was bombarded as a result of that attack leaving tens dead. The intelligence information mentioned the expected attack to be in vengeance of those who lost their lives at the hands of the IDF. An Israeli raid along the Egyptian boarder claimed the lives of five people, three civilians and two soldiers, which sparked a diplomatic crisis between the two countries. Non-stop protests outside of the Israeli embassy in Cairo have been demanding the cutting of all diplomatic ties with Israel and putting an end to the 32-year-old peace treaty. BM
